Kanye West’s Political Party

by with 14 Comments CultureFeatured

One of the biggest stories of 2019… 

I am disappointed that Kanye West was welcomed to perform during Howard University’s Homecoming. Years ago, I would have been thrilled for his performance during my alma mater’s most-visited gathering of the year. However, in light of his recent political rants, including his demonstrations of willful ignorance about race and genuine attempts to manipulate critical aspects of Black history, I am dismayed at how he ended up with access to Howard’s historic homecoming platform at all. 

As a teenager, I followed Kanye, devotedly. Like many students of hip-hop, I came of age through the “highs” his career. I had a no-skip addiction to listening to Late Registration. I was ever-impressed by the versatility of his production. I arrived at consummate fan status once I experienced him live during the controversial “Yeezus” tour. To this day, I recognize both his one-of-a-kind talent and his dangerous desire for attention. 

That Kanye West has expressed strong political views is not surprising to me. I’ve admired his public protests against the mistreatment of marginalized people. During his more recent, “free-thought” era; however, Kanye has not missed an opportunity to mock Black consciousness. His comments while visiting Howard, including a command for Blacks “not to all stand under the slave net at once,” strikes me as grossly misinformed and disingenuous. According to the U.S. Constitution, we are at liberty to share our sentiments on any matter so long as they are not “obscene” or threatening by nature. While it is commendable for entertainers to use their platform to spread political awareness, it is naïve to expect most of them to use their celebrity responsibly. 

I am mainly disappointed in Howard University. They enabled yet another one of West’s reckless, viral moments. Howard Homecoming is traditionally a time for students and alum to fellowship and unwind at “The Mecca,” for Black politics, thought, and culture. Many students and alum of the university experienced a stark, political awakening at Howard. West did not visit for a similar experience. He used Howard for publicity and to spark further controversy around his troubled beliefs. Since West’s performance, I’m not sure how serious the university is about maintaining its integrity. I’m proud to wear the legacy of Howard University everywhere I go. I urge the university to revisit its commitment to do the same by refusing to compromise its legacy for “Kanye West’s political party.”

This article was originally published on 18 October 2019.

Similar Read: In Review: HBCU Homecomings Recharge Millions of African-Americans

In Review: HBCU Homecomings Recharge Millions of African-Americans

by with One Comment CultureFeatured

There is something special about the month of October. There’s a sweet smell in the air, the birds are chirping, and excitement mounts inside of me and more than a million others who can relate to my college experience. It is Homecoming Season! Some may ask, what is the big deal? Well, I will tell you… this isn’t just any Homecoming, this is Homecoming at a Historically Black College/University (HBCU). At an HBCU, Homecoming is a family reunion, block party, cookout, and any other feel-good function you can think of combined in one. It is THE event of the year for students and alumni alike that is marked on everyones calendar. After Homecoming weekend I return home full of happiness, motivated to keep pushing towards my dreams, and an increased pride in my Blackness and all that it entails. My soul glows from the inside out because it was recharged with all the wonderful examples of Black excellence, intertwined in moments of “let-your-hair-down-ratchetness,” giving me some extra pep in my step for work Tuesday morning (Monday just isn’t an option after Homecoming). 

Why HBCUs Exist… 

HBCUs were created in the post-civil-war era as institutions of higher learning where African Americans were welcome to attend, at a time when most Predominately White Institutions (PWIs) banned Blacks from stepping foot on campus, let alone actually trying to attend a class. For years, HBCUs have provided African Americans a safe space to learn and grow as individuals and into adulthood without the constant second-guessing because of the color of our skin.

I attended Howard University – “The Mecca” also known as “The Hilltop.”

Founded in 1867, Howard University celebrated its Sesquicentennial, its 150th anniversary, this year. One hundred and fifty years of fostering Black excellence by being one of the leading producers of minority doctoral graduates in the country and producing famous alumni such as Thurgood Marshall, Phylicia Rashad, and Zora Neale Hurston. The reason I chose to attend an HBCU for undergraduate is because I was tired of being the only person that looked like me in my classes and in all my extracurricular activities. I was tired of the breezing over Black history only during the month of February. I was tired of the entire class staring at me when we read To Kill A Mockingbird aloud and the word “n***er” was said. Most importantly, I was tired of feeling like an outsider in a world that paints my Blackness as a negative.  

I attended both a PWI (graduate school) and an HBCU (undergraduate and graduate school) during my educational tenure; however, my time at my PWI pales in comparison to my HBCU experience. During my time at Howard University, I learned detailed African and African-American (Black American) history. I also learned that the people of the Black Diaspora are much more diverse than what is showcased (for example, there are vast cultural differences between Black Californians, Jamaicans, and Kenyans). Furthermore, I learned how to better care for and appreciate my natural hair. The negative stereotypes about Black people are dispelled at HBCUs. I grew up in the inner city and my friends and I were constantly fed messages and images of crime, absentee fathers, and poor education within the Black community. But at Howard University, future Black doctors, judges, and engineers roamed the campus having stimulating conversations about current events and plans for the future. It was at Howard University where I realized Black fathers do exist, not just in my circle of close-knit friends, but across the country. It was at Howard University where I also realized there were smarter Black girls and boys like me who came from two-parent households, and not mainly housing projects. Overall, I began to see that I was more the norm of Black America, and not the exception. With every day on campus, I became more comfortable with the Black woman I was and realized my Blackness was a blessing and not a curse, as society would have you believe. 

In a country that seems to remind us every day that our skin doesn’t warrant the same equality or opportunities as others, Homecoming unequivocally reminds us of the power and brilliance that lives within our community. I need that annual experience, and I wouldn’t miss it for anything. 

This article was originally published on 8 October 2018.

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Beyonce’s Homecoming – For Us, By Us

by with No Comment CultureFeaturedGen Z

If there’s any artist that’s capable of stopping the world, it’s Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter.

In 2018, she delivered her highly anticipated performance at Coachella as the festivals’ first Black female headliner and left observers completely in awe. A year later, on April 17, 2019, her Netflix documentary Homecoming premiered, which chronicles the journey she went on to craft her legendary performance. In the film, Beyoncé says “When I decided to do Coachella, instead of me pulling out my flower crown, it was more important that I brought our culture to Coachella.” Watching Homecoming was very impressive, as it gave me more insight into the hard work, sacrifice and intentionality that went into it. There were many aspects that made Beychella pure excellence, but my favorite aspect was seeing the celebration of Black culture taking center stage. 

Beyoncé mentions in the documentary that she grew up near Prairie View A&M University and spent a lot of time during the early years of her career rehearsing at Texas Southern University. Her father is a graduate of Fisk University and she always dreamed of attending a Historically Black institution of higher learning. Beychella paid homage to the nine Black Greek Letter Organizations and an HBCU Homecoming ceremony, with the inclusion of steppers, majorettes, and a marching band. Although I don’t attend an HBCU, I appreciate and respect the importance and significance that they hold, and have witnessed over the years the way that they’re often undervalued. But in the words of Beyoncé, “There is something incredibly important about the HBCU experience that must be celebrated and protected.” With Beychella, she did just that. 

Beychella also included her own rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing”—which the NAACP dubbed the Black National Anthem—which transitioned into her pro-Black anthem, “Formation.” She and her dancers swag surfed, danced to a mix of her hit “Crazy in Love” and Juveniles’ “Back That A** Up”, and included the instrumental to C-Murders “Down For My N*****”. The same day that Homecoming was available for streaming, she released her live album of the same name, which featured her cover of Frankie Beverly and Maze’s “Before I Let Go”, which is a staple at Black functions. Although Coachella’s audience is predominantly White (which made it all the more special that in Homecoming, the camera repeatedly focused on Black audience members), Beyoncé took the opportunity to shine a light on the pure greatness that is Black culture.

While watching Homecoming, one of my greatest sources of joy was that a light was also shone on Black women through voiceovers of icons Nina Simone and Maya Angelou, as well as the many Black women on stage. During Beychella, dancer/choreographer Edidiong Emah was given a solo, and in the film, she says she once felt she was “too short and too thick” and never dreamed she would be there. The space that Black female performers like Edidiong were given onstage was amazing.

In a voiceover, Beyoncé makes a statement that I—and I’m sure many other Black women—could relate to… “As a Black woman, I used to feel like the world wanted me to stay in my little box. And Black women often feel underestimated.” She adds, “I wanted us to be proud of not only the show, but the process and proud of the struggle. Thankful for the beauty that comes with a painful history and rejoice in the pain. Rejoice in the imperfections and the wrongs that are so damn right. And I wanted everyone to feel grateful for their curves, their sass, their honesty. Thankful for the freedom. It was no rules and we were able to create a free, safe space where none of us were marginalized.” Ensuring that her performance made Black women feel prideful, represented, and appreciated was clearly a major priority for her, something that I found very special since the world treats Black women as an afterthought. These women had various skin tones, body types, and skillsets, making Beychella all the more beautiful.

Homecoming provides an insight into the hard work and dedication that was put into Beychella: a stunning display of the beauty that exists in Black culture, Black womanhood, and Black colleges. Black people are the owners of Black culture despite constant attempts to hijack it, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching the love of our culture being celebrated by one of its’ actual, rightful owners. Beychella was the embodiment of “for us, by us” and I will forever appreciate it. 

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